


Blackbirds Singing In The Dead Of Night

by SimplyEssa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Anixety Attacks?, Blood and Injury, Caring Lance (Voltron), Crying, Fluff, Heavy Angst, Humour, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Injured Keith (Voltron), KEEITH NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED ST ALL COSTS, KURON IS A BUTCH, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Kuron is in this, Lance (Voltron) IS HAPPY RO SUPPLY, M/M, Protective Hunk (Voltron), Protective Lance (Voltron), Protective Pidge (Voltron), Sad Keith (Voltron), Tears, Things are gonna get messy..., Vomit, Worried Lance (Voltron), cant have too much fluff, keith cries, kind of, mild panic attacks, team as a family, way more than canon typical violence, you know me giys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-05 11:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12189339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEssa/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: Shiro’s gone.Again.He promised, he promised he wouldn’t leave again-The dam broke.





	Blackbirds Singing In The Dead Of Night

**Author's Note:**

> title was taken from the beatles “Black Birds” or whatever />  
> sO, i decided to take a whirl at the whole mental breakdown thing when they find out shiro’s gone  
> WELP  
> TW for this Chapter:  
> Blood  
> Mildly graphic description of Violence and Injuries  
> Too much gayness?  
> Cussing  
> that should be it...  
> also  
> I DONT WATCH SUPERNATURAL BUT MY FRIEND SAID THEY WRE BEST FRIENDS WHO PINE OVER EACHOTHER BESR WITH ME  
> (bare?)

Ever since Shiro disappeared, Keith was a nightmare.

He barely slept, he never ate, and he was constantly on the training deck.

And by barely, he got an hour or two of sleep before he was woken up by his insomnia or nightmares.

It didn't come as a shock to him when he was off his game the next day: That night, he had gotten twenty minutes of sleep before going to the training deck- and staying there until eight am Castle Time (In total, he was there for ten hours straight).

Lance had come to the training deck when he hadn't shown up for breakfast (the night before he had promised Lance he'd eat breakfast with them so he could get back to training) and had walked into a training deck where Keith was getting pummelled by a level thirty-two training robot.

Keith had been thrown onto his side five minutes ago, and in a futile attempt to lessen the blows he was receiving, he had wrapped his arms around his head protectively.

Because it was level thirty-two, it was acting like a real, strong, flesh enemy. When Keith had been knocked down, it sped after him, politely waiting for him to stop rolling, and had started kicking him in his stomach, his head, his ribs, his arms-

"End training simulation!"

Keith whimpered, curling into a small ball. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears down. They were just injuries, stupid, mild injuries, and if Shiro could deal with a whole year of being with the Galra, he could deal with this pathetic-

"Keith!" Keith opened his eyes as much as he could, which was one, black, half opened eye, and watch a blurry Lance slide to his knees in front of him. "Keith, are you okay?" He asked softly, gently pulling his arms away from his head. He helped Keith sit up with such caution and care and love that Keith- He couldn't.

That was when the dam broke.

Giving up any strength he mustered within the past few seconds, Keith sobbed violently, covering his mouth with one hand, while the other, which was too painful to lift, was still wrapped around his throbbing abdomen. He squeezed his eyes shut, shame burning his bruised cheeks as tears slipped free. He sagged against Lance's hold, who seemed shocked at the fact that Keith was crying, every muscle in his body screaming in protest at the movement while his head whispered the same thing over and over again- _You're useless._

Lance quickly recovered from his shock, pulling Keith into a loose hug; loose enough that it should still hurt, but Keith couldn't feel it- all he could feel was the stab in his heart every time he realized Shiro was truly gone this time.

He wanted Shiro to come back- he really, really, _really_ did, but if the Universe wanted Keith to have Shiro back, why would it rip him away after four months of him being back?

Lance had been cooing to him the whole time, gently rubbing his aching back, while one hand played with the tips of Keith's hair. Keith still hadn't moved from his position- one hand over his mouth to muffle the heart wrenching sobs, the other over his abdomen, eyes squeezed shut, hunched over himself even though it hurt like a motherfucker-

And eventually, Pidge had come in.

He sniffled, looking up from Lance's shoulder (when had he put it there?) to find Pidge, with a blanket and an Altean ice pack in her hands, eyes glistening behind Matt's glasses.

"You idiot," she sniffed welty, wrapping the blankets around his quivering shoulders, "Don't do this to me. I can't lose another brother," she wiped at her eyes, rubbing away the tears.

Keith gave her a shaky smile, despite the tears still pouring out (at a slower rate, no less) and pushed away one of Lance's arms. He opened his with a grimace, twisting in between Lance's knees so she could cling to him, like the koala they all know she is inside.

Pidge reluctantly did so, mostly careful of his injuries, but he couldn't hide how his breath hitched and the way his body tensed when  her body met his stomach.

With one arm wrapped around his back, she looked up at him, glasses sliding off of her nose. "Where does it hurt the most?" She asked softly, eyes no longer wet.

Keith opened his mouth to say he was fine, but was quickly brought down when Lance nudged him with his shoulder. It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did, but a yelp came out of his throat when it was touched. He grit his teeth and threw a halfhearted glare at Lance- he knew Lance didn't mean it, especially with the apologetic frown on his face.

Forcing himself to breathe deeply, he pointed to his stomach, not trusting his voice.

She nodded sharply, placing the ice pack over the spot she touched earlier.

Keith gasped in pain, unable to hold it down, and tried to push away from it. Pidge's eyes became visibly wet as she pushed down on it, shaking her head no while Lance kept a steady grip on his back.

He looked to Lance with pleading eyes- but was met with a frown and another set of wet eyes, but these ones had tears falling out, so Keith turned away, unable to meet his eyes. He stopped struggling then, in an attempt to make them both feel better about having to hurt him to fix him. They both knew he wouldn't go in a pod, not when Shiro was still missing and they could be out there searching instead of wasting time here trying to fix Keith’s wounds-

"You idiot," Lance hissed, but it lacked the venom it normally came with. His tears had stopped, but his eyes were still wet. "Level thirty two. You're going to get yourself killed."

"It's probably nothing compared to what Shiro w-went through," he mumbled back, voice quivering with pain.

Lance remained silent, but tightened his hold.

No noises were made after that. Just Keith's harsh panting, Lance's soft reassurances, and Pidge's quiet apologies when she pressed too hard with the ice pack.

Hunk, that ever loving giant, had come in a few seconds later, his arms filled with blankets and pillows, breathing harshly.

"Oh," he huffed, dropping the items onto the ground. "There you guys are-"

Keith looked at him then, eyes red, trembling bottom lip, tear tracks staining his cheeks- and that was all Hunk needed to smile warmly and sit down behind him. He pulled Lance, Pidge into a bear hug, Keith in the centre.

Embarrasment shoved aside, Keith began to cry again, burying his face into Hunk's shoulder as his cheeks burned with shame once again.

"Don't be embarrassed, man," Hunk said, rubbing his back. "It's okay to cry."

Keith only cried harder, injuries forgotten, even as they throbbed in sync with his heartbeat.

Hunk was talking to Lance in a quiet voice that Keith couldn't make out, but he really didn't care if they were gossiping or some shit like that, he was-

Keith stifled a scream as he was lifted into the air, all of his injuries forcing themselves back into his mind.

"Sorry," Hunk said, a sheepish grin covering his face.

He squirmed slightly in Hunk's grasp, trying to make it clear that he wanted to walk, even when he knew he couldn't, but not a lot. He felt... safe, with Hunk. He was a giant teddy bear, and he was emotionally (and physically) drained.

Sighing, he leaned his head onto Hunk's shoulder, trying not to whine whenever one of his injuries protested, and watched Pidge and Lance pick up the blankets Hunk had dropped.

He opened his mouth to question it, or say anything at all, but he just... couldn't. His insides were full, then someone came along, pulled them out, drained them, and threw the empty husks back inside with a smug laugh. He was a hollow shell, the only thing coming out was going to be tears or vomit- whichever he succumbed to first.

Thankfully, Hunk understood. "It'll be okay, buddy. We're just moving you to the common room," He informed him, stopping in front of the common room, basically proving his point.

The door opened with a quiet hiss, revealing a dimly lit room. Keith sighed in content- the bright lights were killing him.

When Hunk walked into the room, Keith got a better view of what he had been so eager to work on when he was sprinting by the training deck, where he found the _stupid_ ,  _useless, pathetic, Galra_ -

_Stop it._

On the floor, there was a mix of blankets- obviously taken from everyone's room and the supply closets, mixed with more than a gazillion pillows, according to Lance Logic.

Hunk gently lowered him onto the pillow covered floor. He was in the corner- probably to help him sit up a little more. Despite his injuries, Keith gave a small thanks and relaxed into the pillows, letting his eyes flutter shut. He ignored the flare of pain the came with breathing, he ignored the flare of pain when someone banged into a wall, followed by a very loud yelp, he ignored it all-

That is, until someone sat beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Huh?" Keith croaked, his eyes opening; slowly. He took a deep breath, wincing when it sent a sharp pain through his chest. He got a nose full of a beachy vanilla scent- Lance was trying to comfort him.

He looked up at Lance, meeting his ocean blue eyes- and he felt his walls crumble. The walls he built over the years; They shattered into tiny pieces, blown away and into the flames in his chest. Those walls were meant for his protection, even if it was lonely. If no one could get in, no one could hurt him anymore. He didn't have to trust people. He didn't need them. But Lance... he needed Lance. No matter what he told himself, Lance was always going to be apart of his life, and Keith was fine with that. He doesn't know how he survived before Lance (Oh. Yeah. He stared at Lance in class, psychically begging him to _look over here, please, please-_ ).

He deflated, leaning into Lance and letting him take his burdens- he couldn't do it right now. It was too much, it was always too much; _Why_ did Shiro make him a leader-

“Calm down,” Lance said, rubbing his uninjured shoulder. “Breathe. Everything’s okay.”

Shakily, Keith nodded against Lance’s side, curling into a ball, ignoring his injuries, and let his eyes close once more. His breathing was laboured and uneven- even Keith could hear that much, but he couldn’t do much about it. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to focus, it was cold, and he knew he probably shouldn’t sleep, but...

”...head...”

“We can...”

”..o! He’l...”

Keith’s head spun, bombarded by voices and words he couldn’t completely hear. He vaguely realized he wasn’t as cold, and that whenever he shifted a little bit, it didn’t make him feel like he wanted to scream because ow-

“...et, you’ll wake hi...”

He couldn’t piece together anything they said.

”...’s fin...”

”...sleep for a whi...”

”...rest, Lanc...”

”...e fine, Keit...”

His eyes fluttered open. The lights were still dimmed, thank God, but everything was a blob of colours.

It took several more seconds for his hearing to kick in.

”...ith, can you hear me? What am I saying?” Hunk asked, somewhere above him.

He frowned, burrowing further in the blankets that had been placed on him, and closer to the warmth that was beside him and around him.

“I don’t think he’s actually coherent,” someone mentioned, and the voices were all starting to mix again-

“..no’fin hurts,” Keith mumbled, closing his eyes. He hummed happily as the warmth, he still had to figure out what it was, took hold of his legs.

Someone laughed. “Yeah, Altean healing gel would help with that. And painkillers. You’re high, mullet!”

Keith grumbled in response. He just wants to sleep.

“Whatever,” Someone scoffed. “Just let him sleep.”

”Poor little touch starved mullet,” someone whispered, and Keith doubted anyone else could hear it, considering he could hardly hear it.

After that, he could hear footsteps fading and the voices stopped-

Except for one.

One that sounded suspiciously like Lance.

And it sounded like...

He was singing?

Keith couldn’t really make out the words, but it sounded like a mix of a love song and a lullaby, and it was really soothing...

The next time Keith awoke, there were no voices, there was no warmth, but there was a whole lot of noises.

Keith groaned, covering his ears with his hands as he tried to curl into an even smaller ball-

Wait.

Those were the alarms.

Keith opened his eyes and started to get up-

Only to fall back down.

Huffing, he tried again.

This time, he didn’t fall, but the world spun dangerously, and he had to keep an arm on the wall so he wouldn’t keel over and die.

Not waiting for the world to become steady, he ran to his room, holding down his guts with an arm braced on the wall.

The Castle shook violently as Allura shouted- wow, she was loud.

Taking a deep breath, he put the palm of his bruised hand onto the pad and his door slid open-

“Don’t fucking touch him!”

”I’ll kill you-“

”You motherfucking bastard-!”

Shiro was standing in the center of the room, twirling his helmet with one finger.

He had a lazy smile on his face as he listened to his teammates shouts from his helmet.

”Shiro?” He asked quietly; his voice so small, so broken, so sad, so _scared_.

The lazy smile didn’t disappear, and honestly, Keith was a little freaked out by it.

“Hey, Keith.”

Keith practically jumped into his arms, ignoring every fucking injury that screwed with his eyesight, and buried his face in that oh so familiar shoulder-

“Keith!”

”Keith, don’t listen to him, he’s not-“

Shiro rolled his eyes and turned off Keith’s helmet.

”I- I thou-thought you were gone for good this time,” Keith sobbed, ignoring his friends voices. Shiro rubbed his back and hummed. That disturbed Keith. “Y-you promised you wouldn’t leave again, and- and then you- you were _gone_ , Takashi. I thought you _died_ -!”

He felt metal fingers tangle itself in his hair. “I’m sorry,”  Shiro said, though his voice sounded... off. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

”Where were you?” Keith asked quietly, pushing away so he could get a good look at him. 

“I...” Keith watched his adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “I don’t really know. When the fight was over, there was a really bright light, and before I could actually react, I was... in Black’s head?”

”B-but, we looked. You weren’t there-“

”No, no. Not like that. I, um. It’s hard to explain,” Shiro sighed, taking one arm off of Keith so he could run it through his short hair. Did it get shorter?

“We have time,” Keith offered, seeing as the alarms stopped and he couldn’t hear Allura’s voice or his teams-

Wait.

”Well, I guess it was her-?” Keith pushed away from Shiro, opening the closet to get his armour. An attack doesn’t end after just two minutes- “What are you doing?”

”They’re in danger,” Keith muttered, pulling off his shirt. “I’m going to help them.”

”No!” Keith froze, eyes wide and looking at Shiro. “No- I mean, don’t. You’re hurt.”

Slowly, Keith let go of his shirt and subtly grabbed his bayard, which was on the desk behind him, making sure Shiro wouldn’t see. “I never said I got hurt.”

”I saw your stomach-“

”There isn’t any bruises.”

”Allura-“

”Allura’s pretty fucking busy.”

”Lance-“

”Is outside,” Keith finished, activating his bayard. “Do they even know you’re here?”

Shiro growled, his eyes flashing yellow.

”Or did you just sneak-?”

He gave Keith a millisecond to brace himself before he jumped.

Keith whipped out his materialized bayard: a loud clang echoed throughout the room when it met with Shiro’s arm.

”Shiro, wh-“

Shiro forced him to back up. Keith knew he couldn’t win this fight: Whenever they trained together, Shiro had always won, even if he held his punches. The only way Keith could win was if he cheated, and that normally involved having to fall to the floor, and he doubted this Shiro would fall for that.

Keith grunted, placing one hand on the edge of his blade to get more strength into it, even if it was cutting his palm.

He ignored the trickle of blood falling from his hand, watching his brothers gray eyes fade into a golden yellow.

Keith’s breath hitched, flinching slightly.

Shiro took advantage of his distraction. 

He pulled back, letting Keith stumble forwards, and swung his glowing, Galra arm into his stomach.

Keith gasped in pain, doubling over.

Shiro kicked him in the back of his legs.

He fell to his knees.

Shiro hit him on the back of his head, making him lose balance and fall to the floor.

Before he could react, Shiro straddled him and pinned his left arm with his knee, while he grabbed his right wrist and pulled it behind his back.

He writhed beneath Shiro, pulling his arms and kicking his legs, all in a futile attempt. He felt his robotic fingers grab his, and begin to pull backwards-

A small snap filled the small room. Keith bit down on his scream, while Shiro cackled above him.

”Make noises for me, little Galra,” He purred, grabbing another finger. 

Keith grit his teeth, determined to keep the noises in-

Another snap.

Another taunt.

Another finger.

Another snap.

Another taunt.

Another finger.

Another snap-

Keith screamed, slamming his head onto the ground. “Stop! Stop, please, Shiro-!”

“What a beautiful scream you have,” Shiro chuckled, stroking his broken finger. Keith’s breath hitched. “Do you wanna make another one?”

Keith shook his head vehemently-

Shiro grabbed his thumb and another snap filled the small room-

Keith startled awake with a small gasp, something warm scratching the base of his skull. There was a soft hum above him and a warm blanket enevelopping him-

Wait.

Was he just- Was that a _dream_?

His breath hitched and he tensed, the dream already starting to fade. That meant Shiro was still out there, and if he didn’t know where then he couldn’t help him-

“Morning, beautiful,” someone chuckled above him, fingers slowing down slightly. They kissed the top of his head, holding him a little closer.

He peeled his eyes open with a quiet groan- the lights were too bright-

Somehow, the Castle sensed that, and they dimmed for him.

He blinked harshly, bringing up a hand to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. “Wh...” Keith coughed, voice hoarse and scraping against his throat. “..what?”

He looked up, feeling warmer than he ever had before, to be met with a pair of bright, ocean blue eyes and tan skin.

Oh.

Lance.

Wow, he must have a really bad concussion to be hallucinating Lance.

Red flooded Lance’s cheeks as he coughed, presumably to hide it. Why would he hide his blush? 

 _Wait_ -

“I said,” Lance continued to card his fingers through Keith’s hair. Despite himself, Keith leaned into it, matching Lance’s shade of red, and closed his eyes. “Morning.”

He remembered him saying beautiful. But, then again, he probably has a concussion...

“‘rning,” Keith parroted, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. “‘s cold.”

Lance laughed shortly. “Yeah; You look like rudolph, _cariño_.”

”What did y’say?” Keith asked, lifting his head from Lance’s shoulder, where it had previously fallen. Lance was blushing again, gaze focused on Keith’s nose. His fingers stilled, making Keith suppress the urge to whine. He didn’t know why, but he liked it when Lance... _pet_ him. “Don’ s’op...”

Lance squeezed his eyes shut suddenly, the blush leaving his face as he continued carding his fingers through his hair. With a content sigh, he buried his face in Lance’s shoulder. 

“ _Blackbirds singing in the dead of night,_ ” It wasn’t the same song as before, but it was vaguely familiar, and it made Keith... it made him feel safe, relaxed. “ _Take these broken wings_ ,” Lance had a beautiful voice when he sang. Deep and calm and flow-et, completely different from his normal enthusiastic, loud, high-pitched voice. Keith liked it. Luckily, his blush was hidden by Lance’s shirt. “ _and learn to fly._ ”

Keith smiled, remembering where he heard it from.

He was eight, he had a nightmare, he couldn’t find his stuffed hippo, and there was a storm going on.

” _All your life-_ “

He cried into his sheets, holding them tight and close as if they’d disappear-

“ _You were only waiting-_ “

Then Shiro had come into the room, taken him in his arms, and sang that song until he fell asleep.

The next morning he’d woken up in Shiro’s tight embrace, and a hippo by his feet.

” _For this moment to arise_ ,” Lance’s voice drifted away as he fell asleep, tears drying on his face. 

There were no nightmares this time.

**Author's Note:**

> okay  
> cariño is spanish for sweetie  
> NOT BETAD.  
> i don’t know how  
> if you tilt your head and narrow your eyes you can see the klance.  
> i might continue this at a later date for an aftermath, but rn it’s thanksgiving and i hate family gatherings but i need to see them so it may be a little rushed BYE HOPE YOU LIKED IT  
> hurt keith is a drug and i’m high on it  
> (btw, the scene with kuro was inspired by ilovelocusts kitten.)


End file.
